Question: What was your first thought when you saw your score?
Answer:
When I first saw my scores, naturally, I was overcome with joy and relief. I had been anxious about my
scores and upon seeing them, I somewhat got this sense of certainty about my future.
Question: Whom or what do you attribute your success to?
Answer: I attribute a lot of my success to my friends. They have been incredibly supportive and encouraging.
Whenever I had difficulty studying or had a hard time staying motivated, they were always there, ready to give me a pep talk, study with me and help me with doubts. Despite a bit of natural competition, they were always ready to help and I am so very grateful.
Question: What strategy did you adopt for exam preparation?
Answer: Everyone has to memorize the syllabus to some extent but I suppose when I couldn’t get myself to put as much effort, I listened to audio versions of our NCERT textbooks. It at least made sure that I was retaining something when I had very little energy. Setting goals for each day helped in having a more organized study pattern and in predicting by when I would be prepared. It is also really helpful to surround yourself with people who have similar thoughts and aspirations and study with them, that is essentially what helped me the most.
Question: Most students absent themselves from school to attend coaching classes – Do you think
this is the right approach?
Answer: Personally, coaching classes and tuitions never helped me much. The logic behind that remains that when one is finally done with a long day of school and then coaching, one most probably will not have theenergy to study by oneself , on one's own terms. To be able to perform, studying on one's own is very important.
Remaining absent from school to attend coaching instead is also counterproductive. It is important to note that the advice and insight you can receive from your school teachers will always be more relevant.
Question: How has the school helped you in achieving your goal?
Answer: The biggest factor for me was how warm and helpful my teachers were. While they were
knowledgeable and insightful, they were also like a friend, and connected with the students on a personal level ,whether it was Neelam Ma’am for History or Walter Sir for English, I will miss them all so very much.
Question: What are your plans for the future?
Answer: I intend to pursue civil services, particularly Indian Foreign Services after finishing History Honours.
Question: You are a role model for the students. What is your message to the student community in the junior classes?
Answer: While I vouch that diamonds are made under pressure, I also hope that all of you don’t burden yourself with too much of it. Everyone has different goals and different notions of what is success and what you expect from yourself in the boards should be a direct outcome of that. Just work hard and things will work themselves out.